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Study abroad
Hina Lakhani
Imagine you are sitting in your living room and out of surprise you
get a call from a friend (not so close) telling you that he’s
gotten the student visa and now he’s going to study abroad for
higher education. With despair you start to envy his plans and
happy ending of his academic career and curse your fate not being
so lucky like your friend and to be in Pakistan for the rest of the
years. These same stories you might heard every while from your
neibhourhood or one among friends that young people are leaving
Pakistan for higher education and degree. Parents and other family
members of those young people feel privilege that their sons and
daughters are guaranteed to have a bright future and unbelievable
job opportunities regardless of thinking that their own nation is
facing the draining of young brains in the name of poor,
politically trapped and labeled as highly involve in terrorism.
Have we ever put our notices to the trend of brain draining which
is almost from every part of Pakistan? You Ask most educated
Pakistanis today what they want for their future, and you'll find a
large number will say: to settle down in America, Canada or UK.
According to Merriam Webster dictionary, the literal meaning of
brain draining is the departure of educated or professional people
from one country, economic sector, or field for another usually for
better pay or living conditions.
Universities in west welcome students from all over the world
mentioning their mission that "It is clearly in America's long-term
national-security interest to welcome international students to
come here to study", said IIE (international institute of
education) President Allan Goodman in a statement released with the
study. "International students in U.S. classrooms widen the
perspectives of their U.S. classmates, contribute to vital research
activities, strengthen the local economies in which they live, and
build lasting ties between their home countries and the United
States.” But in reality the propaganda behind is to earn a large
amount of money through tuition fee from international student
which is four times of what US citizens pay. Not only this but also
oversea students have almost no opportunities to work part-time
while they are studying (unless through some acquaintance). Because
if this is going to be happen it means no money is coming from
outside and then their own money is going to be used by
non-Americans in those American universities. This is how they can
face a huge lose in their economy. Not only this but when these
young Pakistanis graduate, they tend to do much better on average
financially than even locals. For example, the median income in the
late 1970s of Pakistanis was $20,000, which is well above the US
national average of $17,000 (as quoted by staff writer). Although
American immigration policy since 1965 claims to open up the
country's doors to the world's "poor and huddled masses", most of
those it accepts as migrants do not fit this bill (Le, 2010).
Instead entry to America is only possible when you have heavy bank
balance or a most highly educated and professional degree holders
like Pakistani professionals. Apart from loosing such a massive
manpower, one of the reasons that Pakistan is getting poor is
because its youth and professionals have become selfish to move out
and migrate those countries which is not their own but gives them a
luxurious life.
Currently, there are 68 public universities and 56 private
universities in Pakistan. Eight public and 18 private institutions
have degree awarding status. The average expenditure on education
as a percentage of GDP has been little more than two per cent from
2006 to 2008 (Salman Shuaib, 2007).According to British council
report in July 2009 the driving force for all Pakistanis to study
overseas is increased employability in a competitive marketplace.
For students who are unable to gain admission to a prestigious
Pakistani institution, the options are to study at less prestigious
institutions, new private institutions, or then thinking of
overseas destinations. For most Pakistani students, studying abroad
is the most appealing option, as international qualifications are
generally sought after by Pakistani businesses and also offer the
possibility of finding employment overseas.
Hundreds of Pakistani students moved out in developed countries
like America and Canada every year for higher education and better
job prospects. According to BBC report on November 17, 2000,
Gallup-Pakistan survey indicates that not only qualified
professionals and university graduates want to leave the country,
but even semi-skilled and unskilled workers want to migrate in
search of better prospects. About 62 per cent of the adults
interviewed for the survey expressed the desire to go abroad to
work, while 38 per cent say that they would prefer to settle
permanently outside the country. This shows that many Pakistanis
are gradually losing faith in the country's economic future. (Zaffar
Abbas, 2000)
Based on HESA (higher education statistics agency) statistics of
July, 2007 “the total number of Pakistani students enrolled in the
UK was 9,335 in 2006 / 2007, with 6,205 students in postgraduate
and 3,130 in undergraduate courses. The number increased to 9,840
in 2007 / 2008, out of which 6,550 Pakistani students were
postgraduate and 3,290 were undergraduate.” Yet the nation is
facing a huge loss of people who are educated and the left over are
only agriculture and business people who own some business. This
whole map shows that in coming years, people with young age
normally between 18 to 38, when people prefer to study and make
their career ladder will be very less in Pakistan. Only old age
people will remain in the country that don’t want to travel abroad
because of the huge expenditure of travelling and living as they
own no jobs and are dependent up on their children. Even if
children are settled out in abroad they prefer to live in their own
country due to high cost of disease treatment in western countries.
Children of parents having huge amount of earning in Pakistan can
never imagine their children studying in Pakistan after 12th grade
college education. They have enough money to send their children
abroad and spend thousands of US dollars on them. Moreover those
children don’t have to study much for this guaranteed future. They
don’t have to struggle much in college for good grades because they
are not going to take admissions in Pakistani university on merit
basis. Paying overseas tuition fee in good international university
doesn’t require a transcript having percentage in 80’s or in 90’s.
Those universities believe in only big bank accounts of those
parents in Pakistan. A heavy bank account guarantees admission in
any university you desire. Not only this, but the students visa
depended on this also. In country like Pakistan where the lack of
basic living needs are to be fought in middle and lower class of
people, new graduates when face unemployment or low salary, end up
in moving abroad to support their families and for better life
prospects. Now a days settling in gulf has been a new and cheap
moving for those who can’t afford going to western and expensive
countries. Pakistani seems to lose the faith on the country’s
future and so they want to move where there is possibility, but
don’t want to stay back here to help the nation.
We have to think over it seriously and should go for the solution
for this undermined riddle. No matter if you are nurse, doctor,
engineer or you are someone who works as a plumber or electrician,
every one possess the right to safe the future of Pakistan. My
humbly request to the society leaders is to set standards for the
basic needs of people and to establish institutions regarding long
term future planning for the society demands and abilities and to
take steps for improvement of living standards, otherwise there
will be nothing but just a territory on the map whose existence
doesn’t matter to world .
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